Embroidery fabric mounting means for a schiffli type embroidering machine



Nov. 19, 1963 E. H. CONRAD 3,111,283

EMBROIDERY FABRIC MOUNTING MEANS FOR A SCHIFFLI TYPE EMBROIDERING MACHINE .Filed Sept. 2, 1960 Fl GJ a FIG.4

g INVENTOR.

fR/CH HENRY CONRAD 1 v United States Patent ()fiice 3,lll,283 Patented Nov. 19, 1963 3,111,233 EMBRQIBERY FABRHC MQUNTHNG MEANS F382 A SCHIFFL! TYPE EMBRGEDERENG MACHENE rieh Henry Conrad, 210 Oalrdale Ave, Teaneclr, NJ. Filed Sept. 2, 1969, Ser. No. 53,710 4 Claims. (ill. 24274) The present invention relates to Schifili-type embroidering machines of the kind that are provided With a multiplicity of horizontally disposed needles arranged in horizontal rows and more spechically to the means for mounting the fabric to be embroidered on such machine.

In Schifili-type embroidering machines of the character described, the embroidery fabric is generally rolled up on one roller mounted on the machine, and one edge of the fabric is connected to a second, spaced roller, onto which it is gradually rolled as successive portions of the fabric are embroidered. To conserve embroidery fabric and for reasons of convenience, the embroidery fabric is not connected directly to the rollers, but, instead, to a canvas strip or connecting web which is connected to a roller by one edge and has a plurality of fabric engaging pins on its opposed edge.

Heretofore, the connecting web was connected to the roller by means of a plurality of closely spaced buttons that were punched through holes in the edge of the cloth edge and into corresponding holes in the roller. To elfect such connection it was required to remove the roller from the machine and to then replace it.

It will be obvious that the provision of a plurality of holes in the connecting web and corresponding openings in the roller as well as the provision of the relatively large number of attaching buttons, involved a great deal of labor and expense, and that the punching of the attaching buttons into place and the removal and replacement of the rollers for that purpose, involved a great deal of tedious labor and waste of time of the operator and of the machine.

It is the general object of the present invention, therefore, to provide means for operatively associating a connecting web with an embroidering machine roller of the character described by which all of the foregoing difficulties and disadvantages will be overcome and eliminated.

It is, thus, one obiect of the present invention to provide connecting web and roller interconnecting means of the character described by which the two may be simply and easily connected and disconnected in a minimum period of time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide means for interconnecting a connecting web with an embroiderin machine roller of the character described whereby the two may be interconnected with ease and rapidity while the roller is in position on the embroidering machine, to thereby eliminate the need for dismounting and remounting the roller for that purpose.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide means of the character described by wldch the connecting web may be connected on the roller with maximum safety and security against accidental separation or slipping.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means of the character described whereby the connecting web will be held smoothly in place, with evenly distributed tension along its entire length.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide means for interconnecting a connecting web with an embroidering machine roller of the character described which are of relatively simple construction and are easy and economical to produce.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the roller and connecting web interconnecting means of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from one embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings and from the description following] It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of the invention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertically and laterally foreshortened plan view of one embodiment of a connecting web of the present invention;

Fit). 2 is a section taken on line 22 of P16. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a fabric moving roller for use with the connecting web of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken through an assembled web and roller of the invention, showing the web partly rolled up on the roller; the arrow indicating the direction of rotation of the roller.

Referring now in greater detail to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the same is shown to comprise a fabric receiving roller 14 WlllCJ may be of any conventional type generally used for the purpose, and is mountable and operatively connectable on an embroidering machine in the conventional manner, which is not thought necessary to be illustrated. The roller it? is formed with the longitudinally extending groove 12 on its surface, said groove being preferably of arcu ate cross-section. An elongated, preferably metallic strip or plate generally designated as 14- and bent longitudinally to provide two relatively offset sections 16 and 18 is secured by one of its sections, as 16, to the roller 1%, within the groove 12, along one edge thereof. The plate 14 is secured in position with its other section 18, extending into and overhanging the bed of the groove 12, in spaced relation thereto, to provide a slot-like space or recess 2%. The plate 14 is of such width and so shaped that its inner edge terminates along a central portion of the groove l2. and is encompassed therewithin so as to avoid its projection therefrom and permit smooth rolling of a fabric on the roller 10. Any suitable means may be used to secure the plate 14 in place, such as the screws 22, passing through its section 16 and set into the roller 10.

The connecting web, generally designated as 26, may comprise a strip of fabric 23, generally canvas, of required width and conventional length, along one edge portion of whose width may be secured a bar 30, in which is set a plurality of closely spaced pins 3-2 on which the embroidery fabric (not shown) may be engaged by one edge thereof in the conventional manner. The opposed edge portion of the cloth 36 is formed with a tubular seam forming a pocket or sleeve 34 extending the width of the cloth into which is inserted a flat, stiff stay 36 which may comprise any suitable material for the purpose, such as plastic, bone or steel. While a unitary stay 36 extending the entire length of the sleeve 34 may be used, it is referable to use a stay which is divided into sections that are disposed end to end within the sleeve 34, as illustrated, for purposes of convenience and economy.

In assembling the connecting web 26 with the roller 19, its stay-holding edge portion, with the stay in place, is inserted into the space or recess 29' between the plate section 18 and the bed of the groove 12, and the canvas 28 is reentrantly folded over the edge of the plate section 18 and over the roller 19, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. And it may here be stated that the roller must be so mounted and operatively connected to the machine that it will rotate, in the course of machine operation, in the direction in which the free edge of the plate section 18 faces, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4

securing the connecting web 26 against lateral shifting on the roller. One form of such means may consist of Widely spaced holes 38 formed in the plate section 18; correspondingly, spaced holes 40 formed through the stay 36 and its covering sleeve 34 and tapped openings 42 formed in the bed of the groove 12 in register with the openings 38 in the plate section 18. Screws 44 may be inserted through the registering holes 38 and 40 of the plate section 18 and connecting Web edge and engaged in the tapped opening 44. It will be clear that only a relatively few such screws 44 will be required for limiting the shifting of the connecting web 26 on the roller 10 and that such screws 44 will also further insure against the separation of the connecting web from the roller.

This completes the description of the means for assembling a connecting web with a Schiffli-type embroidering machine roller as contemplated by the present invention. It will be readily apparent that the provision and securing of a metal plate 14 on a roller is both simple and economical to accomplish. It will also be apparent that the provision of a stay-stiffened edge on the connecting Web is also a simple and economical matter to accomplish. It will be additionally apparent that the insertion of the stay-stiffened edge of the connecting web into the space provided by the offset portion of the plate 14 may be simple and easily effected in a most rapid manner and without the need for removal of the roller from its place for that purpose, and that the insertion of a few screws, as 44, will not materially complicate or prolong the operation of connecting web and roller assembly. It will be likewise apparent that the assembled connecting web and roller of the invention will be safely and securely held together under even tension against separation and shifting.

It will be further apparent that numerous variations and modifications in the connecting web of the present invention and the means for engaging the same on a roller may be made by any one skilled in the art in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth and without the exercise of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, to be protected for any and all such variations and modifications that may be made within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What I claim is:

1. In an embroidering machine of the character described, having an embroidery fabric moving roller operatively associated therewith, means for connecting an embroidery fabric to said roller comprising, in combination, a longitudinally extending groove formed in said roller, a plate, bent longitudinally along a central portion thereof to provide a pair of relatively offset marginal edge sections of said plate, said plate secured by one of said sections to said roller along an edge of said groove with said other section thereof extending over said groove and spaced from the bed thereof to provide a recess between said other plate section and said groove bed, and a connecting web comprising a fabric section having a plu- 'rality of fabric engaging pins arranged in a row along one edge thereof and stiifening means at its opposed edge, said stiffening means engageable within said recess.

2. In an embroidery machine as in claim 1, wherein means are provided interengaging said fabric section with said ofifset plate section and said roller against lateral movement of said connecting web relative to said roller.

3. In an embroidery machine as in claim 2, wherein said interengaging means comprises spaced openings formed in said offset plate section, correspondingly spaced tapped openings formed in the bed of said groove, and correspondingly spaced openings formed through said stiffening means, and screws inserted through said plate and stiffening means openings and engaged in said tapped openings.

4. In an embroidery machine as in claim 3, wherein said stiffening means comprises a tubular seam formed at said opposed fabric edge and stay means disposed within said tubular seam, and wherein said openings formed through said stiffening means extend through said tubular seam and said stay means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 254,644 Hammond Mar. 7, 1882 928,060 Marion July 13, 1909 1,016,235 Starkie Ian. 30, 1912 1,299,873 Trueb Apr. 8, 1919 1,392,321 Gammeter Oct. 4, 1921 2,022,807 Hagerty Dec. 3, 1935 2,336,189 Price Dec. 7, 1943 2,655,976 Lovin Oct. 20, 1953 2,848,176 Gunter Aug. 19, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 479,501 Canada Dec. 18, 1951 556,433 France Apr. 13, 1923 901,896 France Nov. 20, 1944 706,182 Germ-any May 20, 1941 

1. IN AN EMBROIDERING MACHINE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, HAVING AN EMBROIDERY FABRIC MOVING ROLLER OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, MEANS FOR CONNECTING AN EMBROIDERY FABRIC TO SAID ROLLER COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING GROOVE FORMED IN SAID ROLLER, A PLATE, BENT LONGITUDINALLY ALONG A CENTRAL PORTION THEREOF TO PROVIDE A PAIR OF RELATIVELY OFFSET MARGINAL EDGE SECTIONS OF SAID PLATE, SAID PLATE SECURED BY ONE OF SAID SECTIONS TO SAID ROLLER ALONG AN EDGE OF SAID GROOVE WITH SAID OTHER SECTION THEREOF EXTENDING OVER SAID GROOVE AND SPACED FROM THE BED THEREOF TO PROVIDE A RECESS BETWEEN SAID OTHER PLATE SECTION AND SAID GROOVE BED, AND A CONNECTING WEB COMPRISING A FABRIC SECTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF FABRIC ENGAGING PINS ARRANGED IN A ROW ALONG ONE EDGE THEREOF AND STIFFENING MEANS AT ITS OPPOSED EDGE, SAID STIFFENING MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITHIN SAID RECESS. 